Addresses Invalidation of EU-US Safe Harbor and Concerns Over Global Data Protection Laws

BOULDER, Colorado, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Tensions between how United States and European citizens view data privacy threaten how U.S. companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Microsoft do business internationally.

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These and thousands of other U.S. businesses can no longer easily transfer EU data to the U.S. because of a decision today by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to invalidate the 15-year-old "Safe Harbor" agreement that made it possible to transfer information seamlessly between Europe and the United States. Further, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a law recently passed by EU Parliament that is due to become law by the end of 2015, could impose penalties as high as five percent (5%) of global revenues for non-compliance with stringent EU data protection laws.

"Anonos addresses global data privacy challenges facing consumers, companies and governments with unique technology and intellectual property that reconciles tensions between protection of individual data privacy rights and enabling global commerce," said M. Gary LaFever, co-founder and CEO of Anonos. "Anonos enables both sides to 'win' – our patented approach to Dynamic De-Identification and Anonymity protects individual rights to privacy while enabling trusted use of data in compliance with EU law."

Jules Polenetsky, Executive Director of the Future of Privacy Forum (http://www.futureofprivacy.org/), said "Innovative uses of data open up opportunities for incredibly useful advances in healthcare, environment - just about every facet of human life - but also create real risks of a future 'Orwellian' world destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. Anonos shows there are smart technical and policy solutions that can ensure we gain the benefits of new data uses while avoiding the risks."

Anonos Solution To Global Data Protection Issues

Anonos innovations enable systems to retain data and make use of it to the maximum extent permitted by law at scale in low latency environments without adversely impacting customer interactions. In very simple terms, Anonos works by dynamically obscuring data linkages that would otherwise trigger these various laws and regulations.

Data can be (i) transferred to the U.S. notwithstanding ECJ invalidation of the Safe Harbor Provision and (ii) processed in the EU to support commerce in compliance with the GDPR, if it satisfies requirements for 'Anonymity' under EU data protection law.

While anonymization is difficult to achieve under EU law, Anonos recently concluded a Proof of Concept with the French Data Protection Authority, the CNIL (Commission Nationale de I'informatique et des Libertés), during which the CNIL noted the "…Anonos framework is a promising solution that could comply with the [Opinion 29 recommendation on Anonymization techniques]." Anonos-enabled data can be used for big data analytics and other purposes if it does not constitute personally identifying 'Personal Data' under EU law.

Benefits from anonymizing data using the Anonos approach to Dynamic De-Identification and Anonymity are not limited to Europe. Recently, on September 3, 2015, Japan passed amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act which include a "pro-business" provision that allows companies to use and sell "big data" about their customers if it is anonymized – previously a gray area under Japanese data privacy law.

Marty Abrams, Executive Director & Chief Strategist at the Information Accountability Foundation (http://informationaccountability.org/), noted "Anonos makes effective controls possible that break the stalemate between responsible use and data obscurity."

About Anonos

Anonos solves the problem of delivering data privacy while empowering users to leverage the full power of their data. For companies, Anonos technology and intellectual property can transform information at the data element level to deliver enhanced privacy and security while preserving the value of underlying data for deep analysis. For individuals, Anonos tools can provide controls for consumers to share information in a controlled manner that allows them to receive personalized information, services and offerings, while protecting against misuse of their data. Anonos' patented and patent-pending technologies and intellectual property obscure and anonymize information at the data element level while preserving the full value of all the underlying data (see http://www.anonos.com/data_scientist_privacy_analysis).

Anonos co-founders, Gary LaFever and Ted Myerson, sold their last company, FTEN, to NASDAQ in 2010 after revolutionizing financial markets via patented innovations that enabled ultra-low latency, global scale operations to comply with increasingly stringent real-time risk management requirements resulting from a regulatory sea change. They started Anonos in 2012 because they wanted to similarly impact the data privacy world.

Anonos was granted U.S. Patent Nos. 9,087,215 (http://www.anonos.com/images/271994108-U-S-Patent-9087215-Anonos) and 9,087,216 (http://www.anonos.com/images/271994419-U-S-Patent-9087216-Anonos) on July 21, 2015, was granted U.S. Patent No. 9,129,133 (http://www.anonos.com/images/US%20Patent%209129133) on September 8, 2015, and has additional US and international patents pending (e.g., see http://www.anonos.com/images/International%20Patent%20Application%20WO%202014-018816) for Anonos Dynamic De-Identification and Anonymity. Anonos Dynamic De-Identification and Anonymity facilitates enhancements to data privacy, security and value for electronic commerce, credit cards, connected cars, the Internet of Things (IoT), digital healthcare, pharmaceuticals, medical research, personalized medicine and other industries by enabling the complete use of data without revealing, intentionally or unintentionally, the identities of underlying data owners.

To learn more, visit www.anonos.com.

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SOURCE Anonos Inc.